Sunday, November 08, 2015

On the latest edition of KCRW's The Spin-Off, Joe and I are joined by Betsy Beers, Shonda Rhimes' producing partner and the executive producer of hits "Grey's Anatomy," "Scandal" and "How to Get Away with Murder":

Along with her partner Shonda Rhimes, Betsy oversees one of the consistently best reviewed and best rated blocks of television -- Thursday nights on ABC. Or as she described it in a speech at a Marie Claire event last year: "Two chicks - three time slots!"

Beers tells us about her career evolution--she was an actress who moved to LA with hopes of getting cast as a "wacky next door neighbor" in a sitcom. When that didn't pan out, she started reading scripts and got into film development. Beers says she has always been a secret lover of television, but growing up, TV was always viewed as the lesser industry compared to film. Then, she met Shonda Rhimes. The two hit it off immediately, and 12 seasons of Grey's Anatomy later, they haven't looked back.